A Commons Approach to the Challenges of Our Time

“When faced with the massive crises of our time, the most logical response is paralysis. What can an individual possibly do about something so massive and complex?”

This was the question posed recently by David Bollier, a policy strategist, activist, and a leading voice in the commons movement.

In an effort to find the answer, Bollier and his colleague Anna Grear, a law professor at Cardiff University, connected with a number of people about the “positive, practical steps that anyone can take in dealing with the terrible challenges of our time.”

One result of their efforts is the short film, Re-imagine the Future (below), which features conversations with international law professors, human rights advocates and activists who participated in the Operationalising Green Governance workshop outside of Paris earlier this year.

The film serves to inspire, inform and remind us that “new ways of thinking, acting and being are urgently needed.” It points to commoning, and the need to involve the planet in all of our decisions, as a central piece of the solution.

As Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus at Princeton University says in Re-imagine the Future, “[T]he unregulated way the world economy has been operating has contributed to global inequality of a dangerous sort…creating a lack of confidence in the fairness of the way in which politics are organized.”

Falk adds that people need new ways of interacting with governments and institutions if we’re to “evolve the new kind of planetary politics that are needed to meet the challenges of our age.”

Cat Johnson is a writer and content strategist focused on coworking, collaboration and community. She's the author of Coworking Out Loud, a guide to content marketing for coworking space operators. Publications include Yes!

Cat Johnson is a writer and content strategist focused on coworking, collaboration and community. She's the author of Coworking Out Loud, a guide to content marketing for coworking space operators.Publications include Yes! Magazine, Utne Reader, GOOD, Shareable, Triple Pundit, Mother Jones, Future Perfect and Lifehacker.Cat helps coworking spaces and collaborative organizations tell their stories, amplify their message and grow their communities.See more on her coworking blog.Follow Cat on Twitter: @CatJohnson

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